NYC 2018 NHL Winter Classic

When the Sabres face off with the Rangers in this January’s Winter Classic, they will be commemorating the 10th anniversary of NHL’s incredible outdoor game series that celebrates the roots of hockey heritage.

We were again thrilled to work with NHL’s VP Creative, Paul Conway, to develop the identity for this event that faced an interesting combination of challenges that made for a unique solution.

The first consideration was the venue. Citi Field–located in Queens, NYC–was the host venue while it will technically be a Sabres home game, so we needed to strike the right balance.

Secondly, celebrating the 10th anniversary of this extremely popular event would need to be given an appropriate level of recognition and be integral to the branding system. The duel challenge was to honor two team cities and a 10th anniversary in a single mark and extended branding program.

While many approaches were explored, through research, we discovered that in the early years of hockey, both Buffalo, New York and New York City simultaneously built important iconic buildings in the Art Deco architectural style. Buffalo built City Hall, Central Terminal, the Rand Building and many more distinguished examples, while in New York, we saw dozens of buildings including the Empire State Building, Wall Street and the Chrysler Building appear on the cityscape.

2017 MLB Postseason and World Series

Fanbrandz was honored once again to work with MLB Design Services to create the 2017 Postseason branding program. With the scope of the program, custom typography provides instant continuity from Division Series to LCS on the the Fall Classic and all things in between. The typography used for the 2017 program features a partial gold edge that adds a special quality to the program and also reacts to light in digital animation applications.

New Jersey Devils 35th

Tampa Bay NHL All-Star

With the Tampa Bay Lighting hosting the 2018 NHL All-Star Game–all while the host city of Tampa is simultaneously participating in the annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest & Parade–the branding theme naturally celebrates colorful local themes of the Gulf water, pirate ships, sun, sand and beaches...and hockey!

Another very rewarding collaboration with NHL's Paul Conway, we kept adding more and more fun visual elements resulting in a style guide full of colorful graphic borders and treatments inspired by ship prow carvings, local flora and backgrounds of weathered dock boards. The custom typography was inspired by stenciled type seen around maritime Florida coastal marinas, life preservers and lifeguard stands.

A color palette of navy, two blues, orange and golden yellow captures the spirit of the event and allowed for rich vector illustrations of the Gulf water.

2017 Pittsburgh Stadium Series

The 2017 NHL Stadium Series brought us to Pittsburgh, the Steel City, where the Philadelphia Phillies faced off against the Penguins. The city's abundance of bridges and yellow steel inspired much of the theme artwork in this program, including the David McCullough Bridge in the primary logo. The steel rivets and industrial shipping themes are seen in both the host city and Philly and supplied fun background patterns and borders.

Fanbrandz is very proud of this most recent collaboration with the NHL and Paul Conway, VP of Creative Services, marking our third Stadium Series identity

Miami All-Star Game

Edmonton Oilers Uniforms Designs

Team Europe

Working with the Confederation of European Baseball, Fanbrandz had the pleasure of branding the newly formed Europe Continental Baseball Team (nicknamed "Team Europe"). We developed a complete jersey kit for their baseball team, including a home jersey, road jersey, cap insignia, and something unique to Team Europe's kit: adorning each player's sleeve is a patch of their country's flag, with a total of seven national flags being represented on the team. Europe's new official lettering makes use of the "classic baseball script" that all fans of the sport know and love.

Team Europe got a historic win in their inaugural game against the Japan National team (the world's No. 1 ranking team), winning 6-2 on a global stage in the Tokyo Dome.

All photos from World Baseball Softball Confederation.

NHL100 Classic

"The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens will close a 100-year-old circle Dec. 16 when they meet in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic in an outdoor game at Lansdowne Park.

The Senators and Canadiens, two of the founding members of the NHL, met on the League's opening night, Dec. 19, 1917. The NHL100 Classic will be the culmination of the League's Centennial celebrations and coincide with Canada's 150th celebration, the Senators 25th anniversary and the Stanley Cup's 125th birthday."

- Official NHL Press Release

Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Devils Rays had been in a deep rut for many years, so when New Yorker Stuart Sternberg purchased the franchise, he immediately went to work with Matt Silverman to make changes throughout the organization. One of those changes would be to reinterpret the name "Ray" that was associated with the sting ray-like fish to a more ethereal image to portray a “ray of Florida sunshine.”

NHL Centennial

Fanbrandz was happy to work with the NHL and Paul Conway in developing the Centennial identity for the 2017, celebrating 100 years of the National Hockey League.

Here are some photos from the press unveiling, more to come as the season unfolds!

Kootenay Ice

2016 Padres All-Star Game

Working with Todd Radom, Fanbrandz developed the graphics and theme art package for this San Diego-hosted All-Star Game in 2016. Graphics created for stadium and on-field application included: Petco Park facade art, Coronado Bay scenery, player art, and of course plenty of palm trees. It was also great to include a reference to the naval presence in San Diego with the "Flyover" shooting stars, which was added in the outfield for the event.

2016 NHL Heritage Classic Identity

The NHL Heritage Classic has returned for its fourth edition, this time taking to the beautiful city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Fanbrandz worked with NHL's Creative Director, Paul Conway, to develop the branding package for the 2016 Heritage Classic - including the primary logo, style guide, custom typeface, and vintage player and theme art.

Inspirations for the design work was rooted in 1972 heritage hockey aesthetic, the year that both the Winnipeg Jets and the Edmonton Oilers came to be. This style included bold striping, elements of vintage aviation, and celebrates the classic 70's letterforms of the original team uniforms. Also included in the theme art package are illustrations of Winnipeg's Forks Plaza and Provencher Bridge. Kudos to Paul and Infinite Scale who did a brilliant job bringing the graphic identity to life in-arena and throughout the event area. Also, a big thanks to our colleague, Skye Dillon who lent his talented hands to the project.

NHL 2017 Winter Classic

Fanbrandz is very proud of our most recent collaboration with the NHL and VP of Creative Services, Paul Conway to develop the 2017 Winter Classic identity program. This marks our seventh Winter Classic identity with the NHL.

NHL Global Series

"The Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators will play two regular-season games in Stockholm on Nov. 10 and 11 as part of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series, the League announced Friday.

It will be the sixth time the NHL has played a regular-season game in Europe, the first time since 2011. These will be the 21st and 22nd games played in Europe, and the seventh and eighth played in Sweden."

- Official NHL Press Release

Custom Fonts

The value of a custom font for your team or league is unlimited in terms of brand extension for all aspects of marketing.

Simply put, having a custom font in this day of social media mixed with first screens, second screens and traditional media gives you a whole new line of communication with your fan base, and what matters more than that?

Winter Classic in D.C.

Fanbrandz is pleased to share our latest collaboration with the National Hockey League and Creative Director, Paul Conway as NHL unveils the 2015 Bridgestone Winter Classic in Washington D.C.

Hosted in our nation's capital, and celebrating hockey's roots, we had a unique opportunity to tap into the iconic branding techniques of past Presidential elections to build this unique event program.

Recently, Paul Conway and Fanbrandz were featured on HOW Design highlighting the creation of the 2015 Winter Classic program. View the full article here.

2015 Cincinnati All-Star Game

It is our distinct honor, along with the Cincinnati Red Stockings, est.1869, and the Commission, to witness the unveiling to the common public the official trademark of the 2015 "Mid-summer Classic." That's right! 2015's MLB All-Star Game will follow its favorite base runners to the home of the first professional baseball club: The Cincinnati Red Stockings.

Nashville All-Star

"The National Hockey League and the Nashville Predators today unveiled the official logo for the 2016 NHL All-Star festivities, which will be held Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31 at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville. This marks the first time the Predators, the city of Nashville and Bridgestone Arena will host the League's mid-season showcase, which includes the NHL All-Star Skills Competition and the NHL All-Star Game."

“We’re thrilled to bring NHL All-Star to Music City for the first time ever and feel that the new logo truly celebrates the city’s passion for music and for its hometown Predators,” said Brian Jennings, NHL Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President.

2016 Jump Fence Rally

The annual Far Hills Race Meeting is held in mid-October and is host to the best steeple chasing in the country – and the richest purse for the running of the “Grand National”.

But, let’s face it, its a huge tailgate party. College-aged kids do beer bongs down in the center track while up the hill there are catered parties with chefs carving ham on tables with candelabras. It’s an interesting group to say the least. 40-50 thousand show up each year.

This was our 20th year hosting our friends, clients and colleagues for a day of fun, and as any self-respecting design group, we always come up with some sort of creative theme. This year as we rounded August and into early September, we knew that the presidential campaign was causing fatigue and worse. But, it was the elephant (and donkey) in the room. We immediately thought that elevating our lawn jockey mascot to candidate made perfect sense.

2016 Spring Training

The Grapefruit League and Cactus League reunite once again for Major League Baseball's Spring Training. The time in the beginning of every baseball season is always special, each team resets to 0 and the playing ground is equal for every team to have a shot at making it to the Postseason.

Branding the Anaheim Ducks

During the 2006 offseason, heading into the team's 14th NHL campaign, with the franchise still lacking a division title let alone a Stanley Cup victory, new owner’s Henry and Susan Samueli wanted to change their team name, logo system, player uniforms, and overall approach to winning a championship.

Inspirations for the design work included historic Canadian Pacific Railway posters and shield, the Vancouver Police seal and Vancouver's iconic skyline.

We're proud to announce that our 2014 Heritage Classic program won silver in the 2014 CLIO Sports Awards (in the event identity category), and gold in the 2014 Art Director's Club of NJ Awards!

2016 Stadium Series

In stark contrast to the Winter Classic, which is NHL's retro throw-back event, their new jewel event, the Stadium Series, has an ultra-modern chrome aesthetic. We were happy to work with NHL's Creative Director Paul Conway in developing this program and bringing the 3rd annual Stadium Series to life.

For the 2016 edition, the event was split between Minnesota and Colorado, so a pair of logos has to be developed that worked in the same system but felt unique to each host area.

WBSC Site Launch

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for the sports of baseball and softball that was established in 2013 by the historic merger of the International Softball Federation (ISF) and International Baseball Federation (IBAF), the former respective world governing bodies for baseball and softball.

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the WBSC has 208 National Federation Members in 141 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania. Professional baseball organizations are also included and form an arm of the WBSC as Associate Members.

NHL 2016 Winter Classic

Fanbrandz is very proud of our most recent collaboration with the NHL and VP of Creative Services, Paul Conway to develop the 2016 Winter Classic identity program. This is our sixth Winter Classic logo and identity program and recently won a CLIO for this past year’s 2015 Winter Classic identity played in Washington D.C.

SwingXP Website

Fanbrandz worked with SwingXP to create a multifaceted website to promote and sell their unique line of weighted practice bats. SwingXP's "Power Series" bats use a proprietary weighted knob in the handle of the bat, which provides better swing training than standard "donut" weights by helping batters maintain proper form during a swing.

Batters experience more ideal hand and feet positioning, greater use of their hips, legs and “core” in executing a swing, and improved “quickness” of their stroke, all while maintaining an ideal swing.

The website was designed to promote the new line of bats, inform new users about how the product works, and includes a full e-commerce section with information for purchasing the perfect bat for practice. The new site also features many social and user-generated features in the "Clubhouse," like user-submitted stories, a wall for tagged Instagram posts, and weekly interactive programs and contests.

Minnesota Twins All-Star

The official logo for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game was unveiled in the fall and featured a great host for the July showcase of baseball greats!

NFL Seasonal Style Guides

We were asked to help NFL with a new initiative to customize the branding for each of the individual seasonal periods: Kickoff, Thanksgiving, Playoffs, Pro Bowl, and NFL Experience. The branding packaging includes theme art, individual color palettes and design themes that will be applied to broadcast, print media, web, print collateral and on-site signage and banners.

Stadium Series

In stark contrast to the Winter Classic, which is NHL's retro throw-back event, their new jewel event, the Stadium Series, has an ultra-modern chrome aesthetic. We were happy to work with NHL's Creative Director Paul Conway in developing this program and bringing the 2nd annual Stadium Series to life.

Drake & The Blue Jays

Having worked closely with the Blue Jays organization, we were not surprised to see Toronto's most famous celebrity pop up on the Fanbrandz Caller I.D.

Columbus NHL All-Star Game 205

Nine months after the 2013 Columbus ASG was cancelled, NHL decided that Columbus deserved to host the 2015 ASG, and we were swiftly brought back in to make updates on our original 2013 style guide -- needless to say we cannot wait for winter 2015!

Victory Event Series

We worked with a small organization, Victory Events, who produces high school aged lacrosse events around the country. They had a specific branding issue that was holding them back - brand confusion. Each individual event had no tie-in to the overarching Victory Event Series brand.

We created an overarching brand architecture that strengthened the Victory brand and created a blueprint for explansion.

Super Bowl Host Community

Montclair was chosen as an official place to visit by the host committee of Super Bowl XLVIII, one of a handful of North Jersey towns and cities.

We were thrilled to see our Montclair Super Bowl branding on display around town! "The Big Game" was as close as we could get legally to using the actual name of the game.

Montclair's highlight for Super Bowl Week 2014 was its famous reputation for Restaurant Week. So we threw the kids in the minivan and headed down to Super Bowl week in NJ's finest suburb!

Mets All-Star Game 2013

When exploring how to best capture the essence of Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, traveling to the stadium like many Mets fans is a must -- hop on the subway and get off at the beautiful Mets/Willets Point stop. Subway platforms throughout New York City are filled with mosaic tile work, and the broad vistas of the Manhattan skyline with bridge views from Citi Field combined to inspire a graphic concept and basis for the theme art.

30 Fans from 30 Cities

Spring Training 2015

The Grapefruit League and Cactus League reunite once again for Major League Baseball's Spring Training. The time in the beginning of every baseball season is always special, each team resets to 0 and the playing ground is equal for every team to have a shot at making it to the Postseason.

Winter Classic Philly Style

The Winter Classic has become a New Year's Day sports classic for NHL. The throwback sweaters and open air rinks provide a unique experience that conjures up the beginnings of the sport. Fans agree as licensed products, ticket sales and broadcast ratings are off the charts.

Yogi Berra Museum

We had the pleasure of working with Yogi to develop the identity for the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center at Montclair State University.

MLB Opening Day

A look at the branding program for one of the most electrifying day's in the MLB season, Opening Day, which will be used for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The complete program includes marks for Opening Day, Night, Week, Weekend, and Series. We cannot wait to kick off the new season and see these logos behind home plate.

Ottawa Site Survey

As with most destination special events, a site survey prepares us to develop a branding program that reflects the geography, architecture, culture and influences that should inform the program desginers in a way that will resonate with both local and visiting fans.

World Cup Visual Hashtag Guide

30 Fans: 30 Chants

Outdoor Hockey in the Steel City

The Winter Classic has become a New Year's Day sports classic for NHL. The throwback sweaters and open air rinks provide a unique experience that conjures up the beginnings of the sport. Fans agree as licensed products, ticket sales and broadcast ratings are off the charts.

AstroTurf PhotoWall

Fueled by social media and app-based filtered photography, the AstroTurf Photo Wall tradition came to fruition after Fanbrandz Principal Bill Frederick went off and coated his office's sliding wood door in a layer of the finest AstroTurf greenbacks can buy.

So come on down and see the studio -- strike your best pose and get featured on the wall!

Meet Fernando

NASCAR

Our first project for NASCAR dealt with Kyle Petty while he was sponsored by Mattel's Hot Wheels brand, which led us to working on other projects, including a legacy brand for the greatest driver of all time, Dale Earnhardt, brochures for NASCAR Club Members, and a complete brand identity execution for Richard Petty Enterprises.

AHL Identities

In addition to having a long-standing history working with the National Hockey League, we have also developed team identities for the American Hockey League (AHL), which acts as the development curcuit for the NHL. To the right are some samples of our work on the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Saint John Flames, which were both extraordinary projects to work on!

Petty Motorsport

Winter Classic in historic Fenway Park

The Winter Classic has become a New Year's Day sports classic for NHL. The throwback sweaters and open air rinks provide a unique experience that conjures up the beginnings of the sport. Fans agree as licensed products, ticket sales and broadcast ratings are off the charts.

Winter Classic in Wrigleyville

The Winter Classic has become a New Year's Day sports classic for NHL. The throwback sweaters and open air rinks provide a unique experience that conjures up the beginnings of the sport. Fans agree as licensed products, ticket sales and broadcast ratings are off the charts.

Kitty Hawk Kites

What could be better than kayaking, kiteboarding, and hang gliding off the Outer Banks of North Carolina? It’s all part of the process when developing a new identity for Kitty Hawk Kites.

20 Years of MLB All-Star

The annual branding challenge is capturing each location's unique personality with an identity that genuinely connects with fans and stakeholders. Architectural ballpark details, mountains, cityscapes, deserts or signature friezes -- each host club and location offers a "hook" that is used to build an extensive branding program around.

Player Art Illustration

We include robust theme art illustrations as part of every style guide we produce -- particularly when branding a special event.

Over the years we have learned that profound player art enhances tenfold the multitude of design communications generated around an event, and is just one example of thematic art we create for our clients. Each new set of "players" we design here at the studio holds a special place in our portfolio.

Building A Durable Program for the Postseason

Logos are constantly being reproduced on vinyl wraps that face entire sides of buildings, while other licensees are casting the same logo as tiny metal engravings for pins. These sorts of rigors aggressively test a logo system, especially one as sought after as the MLB Postseason, but fret not, dear friends, for a range of design rules and aesthetics that ensure the "durability" of the style guides and logos has been developed.

Spring Training 2014

Got Cacti? What about Grapefruit?

One of our favorite logos to see on screen is for Major League Baseball's annual Spring Training sessions, the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. Any fan who has been to Spring Training facilities in Florida and Arizona knows how special the atmosphere is, and that atmosphere deserves a special branding.

Complex Logos Systems

The World Series presents a challenge that involves many related logos, wordmarks and branding elements. With broadcast networks, clubs, agencies, sponsors, partners, web-masters, media and licensees all clamoring for the many subtle variations within the core family of logos -- as well as champions marks for every division -- the program needs to be built with “good bones.”

All-Star with Orange County Flavor

When developing the look and feel for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, hosted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, local illustrators were directed to create a series of images that served as a fulcrum for the branding system, which enabled the system to tap into the rich, inspirational Orange County settings of orange groves and fruit crate labels.

Crowning Kansas City

Taking cues from the host club logo and outfield scoreboard, a dimensional crown and shield for the marque, which was central to another successful MLB All-Star event brand, was deployed.

Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star

One of our favorite brand programs is the special event logo and style guide for the 2011 All-Star Game hosted by the D-Backs. As usual, these broad programs are built for use by all of the typical stakeholders: league, club, sponsors, broadcast partner, licensees, party planners, and of course the city, so a particularly rich program rooted in the club's unique location and its deep Native American history was developed.

All-Star in the Gateway to the West

Event branding system for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game hosted by the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium. Inspiration for the program was drawn from the Cardinals own identity, including their script and cardinal illustration, and the city of St. Louis and its Gateway Arch. The program was well-received by fans and players alike.

2009 MLB World Series

When the Yankees won, we could hardly ride a subway or walk a Manhattan street without seeing someone wearing an NY cap with the WS09 logo embroidered on the side -- in fact, to this day the patch pops into sight on a regular basis when we make our trips into the City That Never Sleeps. A rich and complex logo system, designed to adapt to every situation, including the Yankees' stunning win.

San Francisco Giants All-Star

2007's All-Star Game brought us to sunny San Francisco, where the Giants hosted one of the most memorable event programs. Local SF artist Michael Schwabb had the opportunity to tap into the visual culture and capture every aspect of his city with a beautiful illustrative style. This program's most unique feature is its iconic illustrations of San Francisco and the iconic splash that is still used in the park today.

MLB Identities

Due to contractual agreements, some franchise rebranding projects may not be published. To request access, please visit our contact page and submit a query.